The occasional court cases against supporters of Ustasha iconography in Croatia tend to resemble each other and act as a kind of anticlimax. Such trials generally pass without much public resonance, until the next similar situation and a new formal confrontation with the law. However, one case from late January in Rijeka stood out due to the testimony of the accused, who was eventually fined. It involved the trial of the attackers of the anti-fascist protest held in that city last fall. In addition to physically attacking a demonstrator, they also stood out by shouting slogans in praise of the puppet fascist state from the Second World War.
"I don't know what 'Independent State of Croatia' means. It's a state that existed before, I learned about it from history. I don't even know what the cry 'Ready for Homeland' means," the 25-year-old forward said, as reported by Croatian media. The question of what he could have really learned about the Independent State of Croatia in school, beyond basic information, was soon pushed to the margins of public attention.
Vedrana Spajić Vrkaš, professor emerita at the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, believes that it is unlikely that the defendants truly did not know the symbolic and practical meaning of the slogans they shouted.
Learning is not just memorizing
In her opinion, the meaning of these slogans has been grotesquely distorted and deprived of historical truth, and instrumentalized for verbal and physical confrontations with leftists. This has not been an isolated or insignificant incident in Croatia for decades. However, the dilemma arises as to whether such an interpretation may have been, at least indirectly, learned in school – through the passivity of a system that offers only scant information on this topic, without a clear value position.
"If it is true that he 'learned about it from history', this points to systemic failures in history teaching and, in general, in upbringing and education. The formal curriculum offers students superficial content, devoid of value and contextual discussions," says Spajić Vrkaš.
She points out that textbook knowledge, shaped and controlled by social, political, economic and cultural power structures, is rarely seriously questioned when it comes to sensitive topics, but is mostly reduced to memorization. Learning, she believes, does not imply the mere reproduction of facts, but an interaction in which different perspectives confront each other and require students to present their arguments in order to gradually arrive at a shared understanding of the past.
In the absence of open communication among students, the so-called hidden curriculum, which the school cannot or does not want to confront, takes on a formative role, and which is crucial for building a "different view of the world".
The dangerous biologization of patriotism
As Spajić Vrkaš explains, this is a set of narratives that are nurtured in the family and transmitted through “significant others”, including teachers who, through their behavior, comments and grades, suggest that, in addition to the official curriculum, there is a “deeper” truth about the world that surrounds students. In many schools, he adds, the focus is on the biologization of patriotism. Students who believe that a good Croatian citizen is one who respects the Constitution and laws of their country are in the minority, while they are clearly separated from those for whom national identity based on blood and origin, tradition, religion and symbols of Croatian statehood is sacred.
In such a projection, the constitutional values that led to Croatia's independence and self-determination are not a key part of national identity and patriotism. When asked whether changes for the better can be expected, Spajić Vrkaš answers that she is not optimistic. "Croatia is dangerously polarized, and I do not see that the government is seriously concerned about this. Experts and researchers, who would have something to say, have withdrawn and left the public space and institutions to the propagators of the primordial thousand-year-old dream," she assesses.
At the same time, it should be noted that the problem clearly does not lie exclusively in the school system, although it is a much broader topic.
The modest political knowledge of young people
The interviewees also point to a broader context. Nikola Baketa, a political scientist from the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb (IDIZ), states that, according to research in which he participated, the political knowledge of Croatian high school graduates is quite modest.
"Speaking of understanding basic political concepts, knowledge of the constitutional and political system, and general political awareness – and not necessarily knowledge of World War II in Croatia – the results are indicative," Baketa points out.
According to a 2021 survey by the IDIZ, less than half of respondents agree with the statement that they acquire adequate and sufficient knowledge about World War II in school. "Students themselves recognize that they are deprived of this content in education. In most statements related to attitudes about World War II, more than a third, and often half of respondents, take a neutral position - they neither agree nor disagree," says Baketa.
The Institute assumes that one of the reasons for such reticence is a lack of knowledge about these topics.
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